not to return to Jerusalem with the first wave of Jews nearly half a century before. (The story of that return is told in Ezra 1-6.) Those who stayed in Persia presumably cared more about their finances than about God's plans for the Jews to return to Jerusalem from exile. Perhaps because of this, Esther is told as a secular story, to illustrate God's care over even "secularized" Jews.
10:2 Is Esther Accurate?
Because of the many coincidences in Esther, some have considered it "just a story," having little or no historical validity. Yet as archaeologists have learned more about ancient Persian history, the details of Esther have proven remarkably reliable. Certainly the book presents itself as history: here the author confidently asserts that readers can check the facts in the historical records. These records are lost - but evidently they were known to the early readers of Esther. |
